Onion Creek with friends

I already did a post on our drive up Onion Creek Road so tonight I'll just show you some pictures of our second drive there with MonaLiza and Steve.

We did a fair bit of stopping to smell the flowers along the way.....and photograph them.

And to investigate the rocks both on the ground and lining the canyon walls.

Steve wanted to see the Stinking Spring, up close, so we stopped and let him gingerly cross the stream.    He put his hand into the water to see if it was warm....it wasn't, but it certainly stank!

phew!

While we were on the edge of the creek, waiting for him, I noticed what a neat pattern the sand and water made on our tire treads.    Small pleasures.....

We came across an huge old Cottonwood tree with  tremendous personality.   It beckoned us to stop and play.   So, we did.

The end was hollow and we discovered the furry remains of some sort of animal stuffed inside, but the men wouldn't pull it out for us to see, despite our repeated requests. 

Since we had no dinner plans this trip we decided to take the road to it's end (or the junction of another trail) before turning around.     It took us along a narrow spine to the top of a ridge.

We retraced our steps, crossed the creek a million times (MonaLiza says only 34 times) and ended up at the beautiful Sorrel River Ranch for wine and a light supper.

The sun was casting beautiful shadows on the cliffs on our way home.

Today Dave and I took Willow Springs Road into Arches National Park, the back way.      Along the trail we gave the Jeep a bit of a work out, saw some dinosaur tracks, a relatively remote arch and, of course, more wildflowers.      Check back tomorrow for pictures.